Following

Grandmaster Piggie4299
Jacqueline Taylor

1 2 3 4 5. Ashes 6 7. Just a Mobile 8. The Flood 9. Waiting 10. My SIlence 11. In A Second 12 13 14 15 16 17 18. Smoke Signals 21 22 23. 082121-0521 24. 082121-0541 25. 26. 110605 27. The Weight of It 28. The Art of Disappearing 29. Far Shore 30. Currents Against Me 31. Into the Pit 32. 042722-0630 33. 110815 34. 082121-0513 35. 080222-0145 36. 082121-0430-2 37. Pieces of Me 38. 121421-1508 39. Dreaming 40. Beautiful 41. 012716 42. 120915 43. 111615 44. 111715 45. 111815 46. 112215 47. 112315 48. 122815 49. Images 50. Eulogy for Myself

In the world of Earth

Visit Earth
Completed 232 Words

14

2006 1 0

I stood before the fire,
holding the mask
that once promised safety,
a face I learned to wear
to fit into the spaces
where I didn’t belong.

For years,
I sculpted it carefully,
each line, each smile,
a careful construction
of what others wanted to see.

But tonight,
the mask feels heavy—
its eyes too wide,
its mouth too hollow,
a stranger to my skin.

I let it fall into the flames,
and as it burns,
I feel the heat in my chest
like a spark waking up
from deep inside.

The air around me fills with smoke,
but it's the smoke of freedom—
no longer confined to a shape
I never chose.

There’s power in this surrender,
in being seen as I am—
rough edges,
cracked pieces,
the truth I’ve held too long in shadow.

I watch the mask curl and crack,
disintegrating into light,
and with every flicker,
my world becomes clearer,
brighter,
alive in a way I never knew it could be.

Some will turn away from the flame,
they won't understand
why I’ve burned what they once admired.
But I am no longer afraid
to let my light shine
through the gaps
where the mask once lay.

In the ashes,
I find my true face
and the world around me
blooms with a radiance
that is mine alone to hold.